The UK and Mauritius have started talks over sovereignty over the disputed Chagos archipelago, the Prime Minister of Mauritius announced on Sunday. The archipelago is at the heart of a dispute that goes back more than five decades. Since 1965 it has been managed by London, which decided to establish a joint military base there with the United States on the main island of Diego Garcia.
Mauritius gained independence in 1968, but the Chagos, located in northeast Mauritius, remained under British administration. “Recent developments in the Chagos file are very encouraging. Negotiations between Mauritius and the UK have started,” announced Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth of Mauritius during a New Year’s address.
2000 residents expelled
Mauritius claims Chagos territory and since 1975 has multiplied court cases to secure the archipelago’s return to its bosom.
A resolution of the United Nations General Assembly of May 2019 specifically calls on “the United Nations Organization and all its specialized agencies to recognize that the Chagos Archipelago is an integral part of the territory of Mauritius in order to facilitate the decolonization of Mauritius as soon as possible support and refrain from impeding that process by recognizing or enforcing any measures taken by or on behalf of the British Indian Ocean Territory”.
This resolution followed a similar ruling by the International Court of Justice some months earlier.
Britain has deported some 2,000 Chagos residents to Mauritius and the Seychelles to make way for the US military base. Mauritians from Chagos accuse Britain of “illegal occupation”.
In 2016, the United Kingdom extended a contract to use the military base until 2036 with the United States, which played a strategic role especially during the Cold War and then in the 2000s during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.